Trump’s talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to yield a ceasefire, prompting Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to pledge continued fighting in Russia’s Kursk region.
Meanwhile, Israel resumed bombing Gaza in the deadliest attack since a ceasefire came into effect on January 19.
Major indices spent the entire session in the red on the first day of a two-day Federal Reserve meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.6 percent at 41,581.31.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 1.1 percent to 5,614.66, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slid 1.7 percent to 17,504.12.
Stocks had risen the last two days in a partial rebound from declines in recent weeks as mixed economic data and uncertainty about the Trump administration’s trade policies spark talk of a recession.
“The news of what’s going on politically, it’s still very uncertain,” said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management. “I don’t think there’s any new news so far this week that should make the market feel more encouraged.”
Besides uncertainty over the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Cahill also pointed to unease over an April 2 deadline when the Trump administration is expected to announce a fresh litany of tariffs.
Among individual companies, Nvidia fell 3.2 percent as chief executive Jensen Huang showcased cutting-edge chips for artificial intelligence at the company’s annual developers conference.
Google parent Alphabet fell 2.4 percent after the tech giant announced it will acquire cloud security platform Wiz for $32 billion, as it seeks to beef up its cloud computing business for the AI era.
The Fed on Wednesday is expected to maintain current interest rates, but the central bank’s commentary will be scrutinized for its views on growth and inflation. (AFP)
